Hand clapping

When you really think about it, the act of hand clapping in applause can look a bit absurd, particularly when done in communistic congresses where the head honcho being honored, who should be quiescent during the applause, is himself (or herself) energetically clapping.

For Those Who Miss Our Fair City

I Stumbled Upon this beautiful panorama taken from Treasure Island.

SFfromTIWithBridges.jpg (JPEG Image, 13750x880 pixels) - Scaled (11%)

Benjamin Zander on music and passion | Video on TED.com

Benjamin Zander on music and passion | Video on TED.com

And slowly it slips away

Yeah, well. It goes like this. Your start off with a lot of energy, blogging daily, or almost, and then you run out of steam. Or there isn't enough time nowadays to sit and compose something, and just adding photos or links to other people's musical interludes or stories becomes less satisfying, and so the blog starts to fade. Or else other social networks capture your attention, because they make it easier to post short one-liners that do not require much thought. The young 'uns love them, Facebook, Twitter and the others. Texting from their smart phones. The new conversation.

But you just watch, things will get better for the ol' blog. There will be a renaissance. Soon.

Or at the very least, a risorgimento.

Yeah.

Andre Rieu & Ravel's 'Bolero'

Renee Fleming in Beijing - Strauss "Morgen"

Silencio - Madredeus

More old films of Hong Kong by Michael Rogge

These fine videos came from old films taken with Mr Rogge's 9.5mm movie camera

Michael Rogge's Hong Kong of the 1950s

Clouds over San Francisco Bay

Have I posted this photo before? I don't recall.

Put on your Sunday clothes

What a joyous song!

Grilled cheese sandwich

Do it the right way

Gustav Mahler's 150th

A celebration of the composer's 150th birthday, by Tim Smith of the Baltimore Sun

Tikal, Guatemala

These photos of the Mayan ruins at Tikal were scanned from

Kodachrome slides taken with a new Nikon FM camera in 1984